Box for matches



(No Model.)

. G. H. GALE.

- BOX FOR MATCHES.

No. 299,976. Patented June 10 1884.

WITNESSES: INVENTO m W & 93%.

By his .AZtm-neys,

UNITED STATES PATENT l rrrcn.

BOX FOR MATCHES.

. SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 299,976, dated June 10, 1884.

Application filed March 14, 1884. (No model.)

:2 '0 @ZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORG H. GALE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Bayonne City, Hudson county, New Jersey, haveinvented certain Improvements in Match- Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of matchboXes wherein matches are put up for sale and use, and which are usually made from paper.

The particular kind of match -boX upon which my improvement is based comprises a tubular cover-case open at its ends, and a drawer or receptacle to slide into said covercase.

My invention consists in providing said drawer with a strip, usually of thinner material than that of the drawer and cover-case, which is narrower than the drawer, and hinged at one end to the end of the drawer. This strip extends a little beyond that end of the drawer upon which it rests, so that the fingers may take under it readily to raise it. The covercase is made a little longer than the drawer, so as to house the projecting end of the hinged strip.

In the drawings, which serve to illustrate my invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved match box, showing the drawer partly drawn out. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the drawer detached from the cover-case. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the cover-case, showing the inclosed drawer in side elevation.

A represents the cover-case, which is in the nature of a tube with a rectangular section, and open at the ends. B is the drawer or slide to contain the matches, which is made a little shorter than the case A, and C is a strip made narrower than the drawer, hinged at one end, a, to one end of the drawer, and constructed to rest at its other end on the opposite end, c, of the drawer. The end b of the strip 0 projects a little beyond the end of the drawer, in order to enable one to take under it readily with the fingers, so as to lift the strip when the matches are to be removed.

In match-boxes as usually made, where the cover-strip is not attached to the drawer, or has its ends merely tucked down into the drawer at its ends after the matches are in place, the person who fills the drawer and inserts it into the cover-case cannot perform these operations as rapidly as he should, owing in part to the time consumed in tucking in the ends of the cover'strip, and in part to the necessity of holding down both ends of the strip while inserting the drawer, and the consumer is also inconvenienced by this looseness of the strip, and usually discards it at once. I

My invention is designed to obviate these inconveniences without enhancing the cost of the box. With my box the filler throws over or open the strip 0, places the matches or other articles in the drawer, turns the strip back, and, grasping the filled drawer between his thumb and finger, inserts the end where the strip is hinged into the cover-case. is the preferred manner of inserting the drawer; but either end may be inserted by taking hold of the drawer at its middle, as this pressure will hold the strip 0 down flat. The user may push the drawer out, as indicated in Fig. 1, and by bending the thin strip 0 remove any quantity of matches desired. VJ hen the drawer is again pushed in, the strip will be closed down to its place. By constructing the end I) to project a little beyond thewall of the drawer, the fingers may take under it readily, and by constructing it to rest on the wall of the drawer it does not drop down into the same when the drawer is empty.

I am aware that match and other boxes have been provided with hinged covers, and I do not claim this; nor do I claim, broadly, the employment of a loose or unattached coverstrip for the matches. These are all old but What I do claim is- A match-box comprising a cover-case, A, a drawer or slide, B, made shorter than the covencase, and a strip, 0, made narrower than the drawer B, hinged at one end to the same, and constructed to rest on and extend beyond the opposite end of the drawer, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. GEORGE H. GALE. WVitnesses:

HENRY CONNETT,

ARTHUR G. Fnlisnn.

This 

